Israel and Hamas resume truce negotiations after weeks of deadlock

Israel and Hamas resumed truce negotiations on Friday with insiders revealing how they might finally end the bloodshed. Follow updates.

An inside source has revealed Israel and Hamas have made a “breakthrough on a critical impasse” in truce negotiations.

The US official told the Washington Post the deadlock over a ceasefire may finally be broken after Hamas made a “a pretty significant adjustment” on their position.

The Post said the official added a “framework is now in place” but that “this is not a deal that is going to come together in a period of days. There’s still work to do.”

Demonstrators march during a protest by the mothers and relatives of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza. Photo: AFP.

Israel’s delegation arrived in Qatar on Friday for the talks which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed were going ahead in a phone call he made to US President Joe Biden as confirmed by the White House on Thursday.

“President Biden spoke this morning with Prime Minister Netanyahu,” the White House said. “The Prime Minister congratulated the United States on the occasion of Independence Day, and thanked the President for his continued and steadfast support for Israel’s security.

“President Biden and the Prime Minister discussed ongoing efforts to finalise a ceasefire deal together with the release of hostages, as outlined by President Biden and endorsed by the UN Security Council, the G7, and countries around the world.

Stickers of eyes adorn chairs in a July 5 art installation in Tel Aviv calling for a hostage deal. Photo: Getty Images.

“The leaders discussed the recent response received from Hamas. The President welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to authorise his negotiators to engage with US, Qatari, and Egyptian mediators in an effort to close out the deal.”

A source with knowledge of the talks told AFP the Israeli delegation led by David Barnea, head of the Mossad intelligence service, was heading to the Gulf emirate for the discussions “aiming to bring the parties closer to a deal in Gaza”.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, said Barnea would meet Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a mediator.

The news comes as Israelis, lead by the mothers of hostages, took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Friday demanding their release be negotiated.

Palestinians gather around two large water tanks as they siphon water into smaller containers in a residential district of the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis on July 5. Photo: AFP.

The crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza continues with desperate residents continuing to clamour for scarce resources.

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14 KILLED AS ISRAEL CONTINUES TO HUNT HAMAS MILITANTS

Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians – with Hamas claiming five as members – in a raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Friday, officials said.

At least 14 Palestinians have now been killed in Israeli operations this week in the West Bank, where the Gaza war has fuelled tensions October.

The Israeli military said the raid was carried out to find militants behind an attack last week in which an Israeli captain was killed. Hamas said one of the latest seven dead was a “commander” in the group.

An Israeli military statement said there was a gunbattle in the Jenin refugee camp and then troops surrounded a building in which “terrorists barricaded themselves”.

The Wafa official Palestinian news agency said military vehicles surrounded a house and demands were made by loudspeaker for one occupant to surrender.

Shoulder-launched missiles were fired and a drone used in the four-hour raid, it added.

According to the military, two militants who took part in a bomb attack in which the captain died were killed.

“In addition, during the counter-terrorism activity, an armed terrorist cell that was identified in the area was eliminated” in an Israeli drone strike.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry said the seven dead were aged from 19 to 54.

A Hamas statement said five of the “martyrs” were members of the group that rules the Gaza Strip. One, Ahmed Mahmud al-Aridi, 30, was named as a Hamas “commander”.

A woman and child died in an Israeli raid in a refugee camp near Tulkarem on Monday, four men in a drone attack on the same Nur Shams camp on Tuesday and one man in Jenin on Wednesday, according to the health ministry.

MOTHER OF HOSTAGE DIES AFTER REUNION WITH DAUGHTER

The mother of freed hostage Noa Argamani has tragically died just weeks after her daughter was saved by Israeli forces in a daring operation involving hundreds of soldiers.

Liora Argamani, who had waged a long battle against cancer, had previously revealed her dying wish was to see her 26-year-old daughter one last time.

The mother of Israeli hostage Noa Argamani has died just weeks after her daughter was freed.

Noa’s plight was one of the most harrowing and recognisable images of the October 7 atrocity.

The university student was seen being loaded onto a motorbike as she pleaded with them “don’t kill me”.

The capture of Noa Argamani was one of the most harrowing images from the October 7 attacks. Picture: Twitter.

Noa Argamani and her father Yakov Argamani after her release. Picture: IDF

Liora, 61, previously told The Times of Israel: “I want to see her one more time. Talk to her one more time.

“I don’t have a lot of time left in this world.”

Noa paid tribute to her mother, who was suffering stage four brain cancer, at her funeral.

“My mother is the best friend there is, the most beautiful and strong person I have ever known in my life,” Noa said.

“I stand here today and still have a hard time digesting. Against all odds I was privileged to be with you in the last moments and to hear the last words.

“Thank you for being strong and holding on so that I could see you at least one more time and so that father would not be left alone.”

ISRAEL CARRIES OUT DEADLY STRIKES

Israeli forces carried out deadly strikes on southern Gaza and battled militants after the army again ordered Palestinians to leave areas near the besieged territory’s border with Israel and Egypt.

Witnesses reported intense bombing and shelling around Khan Yunis, southern Gaza’s main city from which Israeli forces withdrew in early April after a devastating months-long battle.

A hospital source in the city said shelling killed eight people and wounded more than 30 others.

The bombardment came after a rocket barrage at southern Israel claimed by the militant group Islamic Jihad, which has fought alongside Hamas.

This was followed by an order to evacuate most areas east of the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, including the towns of Al-Qarara and Bani Suhaila.

A woman holds a baby wrapped in a blanket as displaced Palestinians leave an area in east Khan Yunis after the Israeli army issued a new evacuation order for parts of the city and Rafah. Picture: Bashar TALEB / AFP

Displaced Palestinians leave an area in east Khan Yunis. Picture: Bashar TALEB / AFP

Bani Suhaila resident Ahmad Najjar said the Israeli order has spurred “fear and extreme anxiety”, and “there is a large displacement of residents”.

Six consecutive days of intense battles followed a similar evacuation order issued last week for the Gaza City district of Shujaiya.

An AFP correspondent reported artillery shelling in the northern area on Tuesday, and witnesses said gunbattles raged on.

The military said its forces were operating in Shujaiya, central Gaza and Rafah, where aircraft carried out strikes and troops “ambushed an armed terrorist squad” in a car and killed them.

Over the past day, the Israeli air force “struck approximately 30 terror targets” across Gaza, said a military statement.

In Shujaiya, Palestinian militants “were eliminated and dozens of terrorist infrastructure sites above and below ground were dismantled, including tunnel shafts”, it added.

‘SEVERE TORTURE’: GAZA HOSPITAL CHIEF SPEAKS

Israel has released the head of Gaza’s biggest hospital, who had been detained for more than seven months, among dozens of Palestinian prisoners returned to the besieged territory for treatment.

His release was confirmed on social media by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and by a medical source inside the Gaza Strip.

Al Shifa director Mohammed Abu Salmiya was detained in November.

Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya, who was detained by Israeli forces since November, is welcomed by relatives after his release alongside other detainees. Picture: AFP

Successive raids have seen the hospital where he worked largely reduced to rubble since Israel launched its assault on Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel.

Salmiya and the other freed detainees crossed back into Gaza from Israel just east of Khan Yunis, a medical source at the Al Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah told AFP.

Five detainees were admitted to Al-Aqsa hospital and the others were sent to hospitals in Khan Yunis, the source added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that he had ordered an immediate inquiry into the release of the detainees.

The office also said “the decision to release the prisoners follows High Court hearings,” and that releases were determined “independently by security officials.”

Israel has accused Hamas of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a cover for military operations and infrastructure.

The militant group, which has run the territory since 2007, denies the allegations.

– with AFP